沙特阿拉伯一年一度的阿卜杜勒-阿齐兹国王骆驼节又开始了。评委们将根据骆驼的头、脖子、驼峰等进行全方位评分，选出“最美骆驼”，颁发大奖。据外媒报道，这次比赛中超过40头骆驼因使用医美手段“提升”容貌而被取消参赛资格。这也是沙特史上最大的一次骆驼选美作假案。

 

In an attempt to keep artificially-enhanced camels out of official beauty pageants², Saudi authorities recently disqualified 43 camels over the use of Botox and other cosmetic³ procedures.

选美比赛将整容骆驼拒之门外。因注射肉毒杆菌和使用其他医美手段，43头骆驼近日被沙特官方取消参加选美比赛的资格。

 

Saudi Arabia's King Abdulaziz Camel Festival is one of the several annual events that features a camel beauty pageant¹. These sort of competitions is such a big deal that some breeders reportedly resort to Botox injections and other cosmetic touchups to make their animals prettier. The Saudi Press Agency recently reported that over 40 camels were disqualified from this year's King Abdulaziz Camel Festival pageant because of Botox injections and other cosmetic procedures.

阿卜杜勒-阿齐兹国王骆驼节是沙特阿拉伯几个一年一度的骆驼选美活动之一。这类比赛在沙特阿拉伯是大事，据报道，一些饲养者为了让骆驼更漂亮，会给它们注射肉毒杆菌和使用其他医美手段。沙特新闻社近日报道称，超过40头骆驼因注射肉毒杆菌和其他医美手段而被取消今年阿卜杜勒-阿齐兹国王骆驼节的参赛资格。

 

Apparently⁴, Botox is just the tip of the iceberg⁵ when it comes to the illegal use of cosmetic intervention⁶ for camel beauty pageants. Using collagen lip fillers, artificially increasing the animals' muscles with hormones⁸, and inflating⁹ body parts with rubber bands have all been documented in the past.

显然，注射肉毒杆菌只是骆驼选美比赛中的众多非法医美手段之一。过去还出现过给骆驼使用胶原蛋白丰唇，用激素让骆驼肌肉更发达，用塑料圈来塑造身体部位。

 

The use of cosmetics¹⁰ by camel breeders has become such a big problem in recent years that competition organizers have had to adopt "specialized¹¹ and advanced" technology to detect any unauthorized tampering¹² with the animals.

近年来，饲养者给骆驼整容已成为令人头疼的问题，比赛组织者不得不采用“专业和先进”的技术来检测未经许可美化骆驼容貌的行为。

 

To ensure that the natural beauty of the camel is preserved, the animals are checked both physically¹³ and clinically before the pageant, using X-ray machines and sonar devices. Offenders¹⁴ risk fines as high as 100,000 riyals per camel for procedures like Botox or hormone⁷ injections.

为了确保骆驼的自然美得以保存，在比赛前，组织者会用X光机和声纳设备对骆驼进行身体检查和临床检查。给骆驼注射肉毒杆菌素或激素的违法者可能被处以每头骆驼高达10万沙特里亚尔（约合人民币17万元）的罚款。

 

据悉，骆驼饲养人想方设法地美化骆驼，最重要的原因就是金钱诱惑。因为一头美丽的骆驼能卖出大价钱，也可在选美中赢回大奖，带来丰厚的经济回报。

 

Camel breeding is big business in the Middle East, and good placing at beauty pageants can have seriously beneficial implications for the owners. And then there is the prize money. This year breeders at the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival are competing for about $66 million.

骆驼养殖在中东是一项大生意，在骆驼选美比赛中取得好成绩对饲养者是非常有利的。而且比赛还设有奖金。今年，阿卜杜勒·阿齐兹国王骆驼节的饲养员们将共同竞争约6600万美元（约合人民币4.2亿元）的奖金。

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